STONE SCULPTURE

One of the interesting projects that we had during our trip to Teluk Resang, Mersing, Johor is the Stone Sculpture. The stone sculpture was inspired during my stay in Sydney. I made a visit to Bondi Beach to experience Sculpture by the Sea which is staged along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. The coastal walk begins at the bottom of Notts Avenue, which runs off Campbell Parade, Bondi. The coastal walk can also be accessed by stairs at various points along the exhibition route at Hunter Park, Gaerloch Avenue and Pacific Avenue. The exhibition finishes at Tamarama Park, Marine Drive, Tamarama, Sydney.

Our stone sculpture is an ad hoc project with my students as I saw the potentials of the place. One of the interesting challenges is the wind. The wild monsoon wind constantly blew our face as we explore the relationship between man and nature which express deep connection through the making of art. Art is refuge, when creating art, I feel at peace, happy and content. It delves into many issues of intelligence and sense of self which is embedded into nature and expresses the deep connection through making art. I quote Andy Goldsworthy, who is a brilliant British artist which collaborates with nature to make his art creations. He is also a naturalist whom inspired me a lot in creating my art pieces: “My art is an attempt to reach beyond the surface appearance. I want to see growth in wood, time in stone, nature in a city, and I do not mean its parks but a deeper understanding that a city is nature too-the ground upon which it is built, the stone with which it is made”.

Enjoy my stone sculpture photography series & Godbless.

SELF MADE ARCHITECTURE

THE BEACH SHELTER

The second semester of the academic year, Fundamental Unit continues to explore and debate notions of architecture through a series of design projects. The first project namely “The Beach Shelter” quickly immersed the students in diverse architectural ideas and challenge. These are their first self made architecture. They have to produce a full scale prototype model trying to solve their first architectural responses which was then be tested on actual site at Teluk Resang, Mersing, Johor, through the end of the monsoon season. This would really test the structural strength of the shelter with the actual site forces. Though they are from different workbases and using different materials, they all shared a common goal.
The monsoon rain burst and very strong (I mean very very strong) gust of wind constantly blow our face and broke some of the structure on our first day at Teluk Resang. Regardless to the rain and the wind, the students manage to pitch up their shelter safely. We had a marathon photography session for more than 24 hours (sleepless night) and we also manage to sculpt a set of stone sculpture during the blue hour. Here are some of our masterpiece. Enjoy!

BEACH SHELTER IN THE MAKING

Self made architecture, solving first architectural responses which able to address to self with simple structure and tropical environment. Safety First. Godbless.

Bending the aluminium tube.

Drilling recycle plastic bottle.

The Scale Model

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON VERNACULAR SETTLEMENTS

"Neither vernacular nor tradition is dead; nor they in deathbeds and facing extinction. Instead, vernacular is emerging in new forms, driven by new ideas, practices and values...."

For further details:

http://www.mrt.ac.lk/archi/isvs/index.html

International Student Design Competition

This is the second year of the UPA International Student Design Competition. Similar competitions have motivated and energized students to work on meaningful projects and led to initiatives that positively impacted lives of real people. Students who have participated in similar events went on to become active members of their professional communities.

Important Dates

· 29 March, 2010 Paper Submissions Deadline 17:00 EST, Round 1 Closed
· 14 April, 2010 Notification of Round 1 winners
· 14 May, 2010 Submission by Round 1 winners of Posters for Judges to review before Poster session at the conference
· 25 May, 2010 Round 2, Poster session & judging at UPA in Munich, Germany
· 26 May, 2010 Round 3, Oral Presentations of winning projects from the Poster session in Round 2 & announcement of competition winners

The Design Challenge: Designing for a Sustainable World
We have become a wasteful society - not necessarily purposely but more out of ignorance and carelessness - the World Usability Day 2009 focused on this. It is important that the thought of sustainability find its way into many different areas in life and business, especially in the area of design.
Sustainable design is about “designing physical objects, the built environment and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability” [Wikipedia] in order to enhance the users’ awareness and to reduce the use of non-rewardable recourses.
Sustainable design is an attempt to remedy the current problems of excessive energy consumption and pollution in two basic ways:
· Designing the product allowing for a eco-friendly process, materials etc: Have the materials and processes that have been used been recycled and are they re-usable? Are they user and environmentally friendly? How can existing products be optimized to contribute to a sustainable world?
· Designing concepts and products that influence the behaviour of users, for example the labeling of products to raise awareness of consumers on the real energy use in order to influence their decisions of buying or using a product (such as labeling schemes for domestic appliances or indicators / systems that visulize users’ consumption)
This competition invites student teams to invent a system or create a concept that addresses this design problem. This could be any kind of product, system or service that has impact on our environment, energy, water, soil, and more. Most important is that the solutions follow a user centered design process supported by background research and, if possible, ethnographic research of the solution space. We encourage students to reach into their nearby communities and include target user groups beyond students themselves – for example, families with children, urban professionals, the elderly, etc.. Solutions should be focused on real locations and be sensitive to real users’ needs and cultures. A cross-cultural approach and solution, reflecting the focus of the UPA2010 conference theme, would be desirable but not obligatory.
To enter the competition, student teams may present either a concept (a clear, detailed design specification that can be taken to prototype), or a fully realized prototype. Either way, teams must clearly illustrate their design decisions and demonstrate the user centered design processes that have been followed. We strongly encourage consideration of:
· Previous work in this area and in adjacent design areas
· Ethnography and contextual research to ground the design decisions
· Evaluation of the designs with target users within iterative design framework

The Competition Structure
The competition follows a three round process. Each round focuses on communicating the team's ideas through a different mode, as follows:

Round 1. Short Paper
Teams will submit a short paper (6 pages maximum) describing their design solution. Expert reviewers will evaluate submissions and a maximum of 10 teams will be selected to attend the UPA conference in Munich.

Round 2. Poster
Advancing teams will attend the conference to give a poster presentation outlining their design, and discuss their proposed solution with a panel of Student Design Competition Judges. The Judges will select 4 teams to participate in the competition’s final round.

Round 3. Oral Presentation:
The four (4) finalist groups will give an oral presentation on their design to the panel of Student Design Competition Judges and UPA conference attendees. Based on the criteria below, the competition judges will rank and select an overall winner of the competition.

Awards
Cash prizes: Total 2500 US$ divided among the 3 top teams:
· $1250 for the top team
· $750 for the runners up
· $500 for the third place
(cash prizes will be paid in prepaid Visa Cards).
Free Membership with the UPA for 1 year.
Letters of Commendation & Announcement at Closing Plenary and Conference Web site.

For further details:
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2010/students/